Module 1 Discussion Forum 9 9 unread replies.

Why is so much of the debate over multiculturalism concerned with the literary canon, with ethics, with religion? Why is so little of it concerned with science, with engineering?

THE APPEAL OF RELATIVISM

Obviously Blackburn and Bloom both think that relativism is mistaken. But they doesn’t just claim that it is or just wave it away as being stupid. Each fully understands that any argument, even any claim, that relativism is mistaken will depend on what gives relativism its strength. What is it that is supposed to be so appealing about relativism as a matter of theory?

INTELLECTUAL METHOD IN HABITS

The first chapter of Habits of the Heart is dominated by four case studies: Brian, Joe, Margaret, and Wayne. What can we tell about these people from the chapter? How can we tell what we can tell?

RELATIVISM IN HABITS OF THE HEART

In commenting globally on what they make of the "Brian Palmer" case study, the authors of Habits of the Heart say the following:

''Despite the combination of tenderness and admiration he expresses for his wife, the genuine devotion he seems to feel for his children, and his own resilient self-confidence, Brian's justification of his life thus rests on a fragile foundation. Morally, his life appears much more coherent than when he was dominated by careerism, but, to hear him talk, even his deepest impulses of attachment to others are without any more solid foundation than his momentary desires. He lacks a language to explain what seem to be the real commitments that define his life, and to that extent the commitments themselves are precarious.''

So Brian is cast as a certain kind of relativist. Interestingly, Margaret, Joe, and Wayne are also supposed to be somehow caught up in relativism. Well, Margaret certainly. But Joe and Wayne?

You will notice that this question appears also as one of the options for the first of the biweekly writing assignments. In general those options for the formal assignment by the sorts of issues that would benefit from a thorough airing in the discussion forum. It’s a good idea to be talking these things through with your classmates before launching into a formal response.